R. Kelly Had No Say Over Azriel's Meeting with Family, Says Lawyer

3/25/2019 1:00 AM PT

EXCLUSIVE

A meeting between R. Kelly's alleged "sex slave," Azriel Clary, and her family wasn't dictated by the singer himself, nor was it his fault the whole thing fell apart ... so says his lawyer.

Clary was supposed to meet with her family -- for the first time in years -- Saturday night in Chicago. R. Kelly's attorney, Steve Greenberg, tells TMZ the plans fell through after Azriel insisted on changing the location last minute. We're told she wanted the meeting with her family to take place at Trump Tower Chicago in a conference room on the hotel side of the building -- not in R. Kelly's residence there -- as opposed to a previously decided spot.

The previous location was a different hotel, one block away, but Greenberg says Azriel made the switch the day before the scheduled meeting. It's been reported that Kelly was the one who pushed for the change -- supposedly wanting his security there too -- but Greenberg says that's false.

He tells us Azriel is the one who suggested Trump Tower as a means to control the media circus she thought her family would orchestrate around the meetup. She wanted say over who could get into the building by having it at Kelly's place, where she lives with him.

When her family got word on that, they pulled the plug entirely. Greenberg says the singer was never going to be at the meeting.

Michael Avenatti -- who reps Azriel's family in this matter -- tells TMZ ... "On Friday, R Kelly’s camp tried to abruptly change the terms of the meeting at which time my clients and I decided not to participate because the terms were not acceptable. We are now attempting to reschedule the meeting on agreeable terms so my clients can see their daughter."

WE CAN'T WORK IT OUT

You'll recall ... Joycelyn Savage's family meetup also got canceled for the same thing -- supposedly, she too insisted it take place in Chicago. Both sides clearly couldn't come to terms on a location, as you can hear in a heated phone convo between the parties.